Rod rolling mill



Aug. 3, 1954 J. F. STOLTZ ROD ROLLING MILL Filed May 5, 1952 INVENTOR- 570! TZ ATTOIFIVF) Patented Aug. 3, 1954 ATENT OFFICE ROD ROLLING MILL Application May 3, 1952, Serial No. 285,897

4 Claims.

This invention relates to rod rolling mills and more particularly to guide mechanism for a rod mill for guiding looped portions of the rod between passes to revent its becoming entangled with itself.

In the forming of copper rod by passing a billet and the rod formed therefrom successively through a plurality of passes in a rolling mill for rolling the rod alternately into square and oval sections with a corresponding decrease in crosssectional area after each pass, repeaters have been provided between some of the intermediate passes for receiving the rod from one pass and guiding it into the following pass and for turning the oval section through 90 as it advances from one to the following pass. As the loop of rod elongates and grows in length, due to the overfeed of the pass from which the loop emerges, it is caused to leave the repeater guide device and move onto a sloping deck for supporting the loop and is caused to move toward one side of the deck so that parts of the outwardly traversing portion of the loop moving in one direction from the one pass are urged into engagement with the inwardly traversing portion of the loop moving in p the opposite direction into the succeeding pass and the end of the rod after it leaves the one pass and follows in the path of the rod frequently crosses over onto the rod and forms a closed loop which is carried into the mill, causing the jamming of the mill or the entrance guide associated therewith, and necessitating the shutting down of the mill to remove the offending material.

An object of the present invention is to provide a guide mechanism for a rod mill for guiding a rod from one pass into another to prevent entanglement of portions of the rod with itself.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description thereof and the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment thereof, in which Fig. l is a plan view of a portion of the rod rolling mill showing a pair of passes thereof and the looping deck associated with said passes;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Figs. 3 and 4 are detailed sectional views through the deck taken on the lines 3-3 and 4-4, respectively, of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, a portion of a rod mill is shown comprising a pair of forming rolls l and a pair of forming rolls [2, said pairs of forming rolls in and I2 comprising two adjacent passes, l4 and i6, respectively, of an intermediate portion of the mill for rolling a rod. The rod [3, which is acted on by the mill and rolled alternately into substantially square and oval sections, enters the pass l4 in the form of a substantially square section and is formed by the rolls [0 into a relatively flat horizontally disposed oval section. As it leaves the rolls in the rod I8 enters a twisting guide 20 which initiates a spiral twisting movement thereto which continues through as the rod enters a semi-circular groove 22 in a guide or repeater mechanism 26 and is guided thereby into a stationary roller guide 26 adjacent the rolls [2 for guiding the rod into the pass l6. Thus, the oval rod 18, during its advancing movement from the pass It into the pass It, is turned on its axis from a horizontal position as it leaves the rolls It] to a vertical position as it enters the rolls l2.

As the loop formed by the advancing movement of the rod l8 from the pass It into the pass it increases in length it is forced out of the semicircular guide groove 22 onto a deck 3% which has one end disposed adjacent the flat surface 32 of the guiding device 24 and slopes downwardly therefrom. The deck 36 of substantial rectangular outline is disposed relative to the passes I 4 and IS with the side portions thereof in substantial alignment therewith. Thus, the deck may be considered as being divided into two zones A and B, one zone, A, being aligned with the pass [4 and the other zone, B, being aligned with the pass [5. At its upper end adjacent the guiding device 2% the deck 33 is provided with an abutment member 36 having a substantially vertical surface or shoulder 38 and an upper inclined surface 4E5 which slopes from the upper portion of the shoulder t8 and merges into the flat surface of the deck 38. As viewed from above the abutment 35 extends obliquely across a portion of the deck from one zone into the other zone and at its upper end the shoulder 38 is curved and as viewed from the side (Fig. 4), the end portions of the abutment 36 slope downwardly and merge with the upper surface of the deck til.

A retaining member or abutment M is provided on the one side of the deck 3%! in zone B in spaced relation to the abutment 36. The abutment M has substantially vertical surfaces formed by the angularly disposed walls 3 and M which taper downwardly from their point of juncture as viewed from the side (Fig. 2) and merge with the surface of the deck 39 and the upper surface 52 of the abutment d4 slopes downwardly and merges with the upper surface of the deck. At the upper edge of the vertical wall #38 the abutment is provided with an overhanging edge or lip 54 (Fig. 3) which extends along a portion of the wall 48 adjacent the wall 49.

As the looped portion of the rod increases in size after it is forced out of the semi-circular guide groove 22, it is stressed to move laterally into zone B and engages the abutment 36 at one end thereof as indicated by the dot and dash line I8l in Fig. 1. As the loop increases in size it is caused to move obliquely on the deck into zone A and the outwardly traversing portion of the loop slides on the sloping surfaces 52 and over the abutment M and drops onto the deck 33 be bind the overhanging ledge 56 as indicated by the dot and dash line l82. As the loop of rod continues to enlarge and moves beyond the end of the abutment 35, the laterally deflected loop tends to straighten out and the inwardly traversing portion of th loop rides laterally up the sloping end of and over the abutment 36 into zone B to a position substantially as indicated by the dotted lines !8-3. The abutment is, however, serves to retain the outwardly traversing portion of the loop from moving laterally into zone B and the outwardly traversing portion is thereby prevented from moving into engagement with the inwardly traversing portion of the loop during the movement of the rod 18 on th deck 36. When the trailing end portion of the rod I8 emmerges from the pass i i, it will travel downwardly on the deck plate in spaced relation to the inwardly traversing portion of the strip and will follow the rod into the pass it without kinks or loops being formed therein.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of this invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. In a rod mill having a plurality of horizontally spaced passes for reducing a rod from a substantially flat oval cross-section to a substantially square cross-section and a repeater mecha nism for guiding the leading end of a rod from one pass into the succeeding pass and imparting a 90 twist to said rod between said passes, the combination therewith of a deck associated with said repeater mechanism and sloping downwardly therefrom for receiving and supporting th progressively enlarging loop formed in said rod as said rod advances from said one pass into said succeeding pass, said progressively enlarging loop of the rod having an outwardly traversing por tion moving outwardly from said one pass and having an inwardly traversing portion moving inwardly into said succeeding pass, said deck having a first zone in substantial alignment with said one pass and a second zone in substantial alignment with said succeeding pass, a retaining member on the upper portion of said deck in said first zone having a sloping upper surface for guiding the rod thereover as the looped portion or" the rod moves downwardly on the deck and laterally in a direction from the second zone toward the first zone and having a retaining surface extending upwardly from the deck engageable with the outwardly traversing portion of the rod for preventing lateral movement thereof from said first zone into said second zone, and a deflecting element disposed centrally on the upper end portion of the deck in the path of movement of the progressively enlarging loop and having a guide surface extending upwardly from the deck and obliquely across the central portion thereof and engageable with the loop for deflecting and guiding the progressively enlarging loop of said rod laterally into said first zone and to cause the outwardly traversing portion of said loop to ride Over and beyond said retaining member.

2. in a rod mill having a plurality of horizontally spaced passes for reducing a rod from a substantially flat oval cross-section to a substantially squar cross-section and a repeater mechanism for guiding the leading end of a rod from one pass into the succeeding pass and imparting a twist to said rod between said passes, the combination therewith of a deck associated with said repeater mechanism and sloping downwardly therefrom for receiving and supporting the progressively enlarging loop formed in said rod as said rod advances from said one pass into said succeeding pass, said progressively enlarging loop of the rod having an outwardly traversing portion moving outwardly from said. one pass and having an inwardly traversing portion moving inwardly into said succeeding pass, said deck having a first zone in substantial alignment with said one pass and a second zone in substantial alignment with said succeeding pass, a retaining member on th upper end portion of said deck in said first zone having a wall portion extending upwardly from said deck and engageable with the outwardly traversing portion of the rod for preventing lateral movement on said deck from said first zone into said second zone of the outwardly traversing portion of said loop, said retaining member having an upper surface sloping from the upper portion thereof to the upper surface of said deck for guiding the loop over the retaining member, an abutment member on said deck obliquely positioned across the central upper end portion thereof in spaced relation to said retaining member and in the path of movement of th progressively enlarging loop for deflecting and guiding the progressively enlarging loop of said rod laterally into said first zone and to cause the outwardly traversing portion of said loop to move on said deck from one side of the retaining member over said retaining member onto the deck on the other side thereof, said abutment member having a lower end portion sloping upwardly from the upper surface of the deck for guiding the inwardly traversing portion of the loop of rod onto said abutment and per mitting the return movement laterally on the deck into said second zone of said inwardly traversing portion of said rod when the progressively enlarging loop of rod has moved beyond the lower end of said obliquely disposed abutment.

3. In a rod mill having a pair of horizontally spaced passes for reducing a rod from substantially oval to substantially square cross-section and a repeater mechanism for guiding the leading end of the rod from one pass into the following pass and imparting a longitudinal right angular twist to said rod between said passes, the combination therewith of a deck associated with said repeater mechanism and sloping downwardly therefrom for receiving and supporting the progressively enlarging loop formed in said rod as it advances from said one pass into said following pass, said progressively enlarging loop of the rod having an outwardly traversing portion moving outwardly from said one pass and having an inwardly traversing portion moving inwardly to said following pass, said deck having a first zone in substantial alignment with said one pass and a second in substantial alignment with said following pass, an obliquely disposed abutment on the central portion of said deck near the upper end thereof with opposite ends thereof extending into each of said zones and having an abutting surface extending upwardly from said deck in the path of movement of said progressively enlarging loop and engageable therewith for deflecting the loop transversely into said first zone, the lower end portion of said abutment sloping upwardly from the upper surface of the deck for guiding the inwardly traversing portion of the loop over the end of the abutment and laterally into said second zone as the looped portion of the rod elongates and moves downwardly on the deck beyond said abutment, a retaining member on the upper end portion of the deck disposed in said first zone and in spaced relation to said abutment and having a retaining surface extending upwardly from the deck and engageable with the outwardly traversing portion of the rod for preventing movement thereof in a direction from said first zone into said second zone, said retaining member having a surface sloping upwardly from the surface of said deck to the upper portion of said retaining surface for guiding the looped portion of the rod onto and over said retaining member, said abutment member and said retaining member being disposed relative to each other so that the looped portion of the rod is obliquely defiected into the first zone and the outwardly traversing portion of the rod is moved along the deck from one side of the retaining member onto and over the retaining member and onto the deck surface on the opposite side of the retaining member prior to the longitudinal movement of the looped portion of the rod beyond the lower end of the abutment and the lateral movement of the inwardly traversing portion of the rod over the abutment and into the second zone whereby the outwardly traversing and the inwardly traversing portions of the rod are maintained in spaced relation to each other during their movement on the deck.

4. In a rod mill having a pair of horizontally spaced passes for reducing a rod from a substantially oval to a substantially square crosssection and a repeater mechanism for guiding the leading end of the rod from one pass into the succeeding pass and imparting a longitudinal right angular twist to said rod between said passes, the combination therewith of a deck associated with said repeater mechanism and sloping downwardly therefrom for receiving and supporting the progressively enlarging loop formed on said rod as it advances from said one pass into said succeeding pass, said progressively enlarging loop of the rod having an outwardly traversing portion moving outwardly from said one pass and having an inwardly traversing portion moving inwardly to said succeeding pass, said deck having a first zone in substantial alignment with said one pass and a second zone in substantial alignment with said succeeding pass, a deflecting abutment obliquely positioned on the central portion of said deck near the upper end thereof and in the path of movement of said progressively enlarging loop for deflecting the loop transversely to one side of the abutment into said first zone as the loop moves downwardly on the deck and beyond the end of the abutment, a retaining member on said deck in said first zone in laterally spaced relation to said abutment and in the path of the loop as it is deflected into the first zone, said retaining member having an upper surface sloping from the surface of said deck for guiding the looped portion of the rod over said retaining member and having a retaining surface extending upwardly from the deck and engageable with the outwardly traversing portion of the rod for preventing movement thereof in a direction from said first zone into said second zone whereby the outwardly traversing and the inwardly traversing portions of the rod are maintained in spaced relation to each other during their travel on the deck.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 392,364 Roberts Nov. 6, 1888 754,529 Zellers Mar. 15, 1904 760,858 Edwards May 24, 1904 

